Green Scheme a dud: Karas Council

THE Green Scheme, aimed at boosting national production of fruit and vegetables, is not viable in the South, the Karas Regional Council says.

Government has pumped millions into the Green Scheme to promote crop production. At a Council meeting on Friday, Regional Councillor for the Karasburg Constituency Paulus Ephraim sought support from the Council to pass a resolution pronouncing the Government Horticulture Development Initiative economically impracticable.Ephraim proposed the immediate cancellation of the Green Scheme.The Council unanimously approved Ephraim’s proposal.Motivating his proposal, Ephraim told the Council that the two-hectare plots allocated to farmers were not big enough to be economically viable.He added that a big chunk of the farmers’ earnings was pocketed by service providers, leaving the farmers with negligible profits.The service providers were enlisted by Government to technically assist the small farmers with crop production and to find European markets for them.Ephraim informed the Council that his request stemmed from talks between him and the Agriculture Ministry’s Permanent Secretary.According to Ephraim, the PS was just waiting for a Council resolution to scrap the Green Scheme project as non-viable.At the meeting Ephraim also claimed that the much-talked-about biodiesel project, a joint venture with an Israeli company, Argos Namibia, was struggling to get off the ground because some Government officials in the Lands Ministry had tampered with the project proposal.However, he said he was optimistic that the project would soon become a reality.At a Council meeting on Friday, Regional Councillor for the Karasburg Constituency Paulus Ephraim sought support from the Council to pass a resolution pronouncing the Government Horticulture Development Initiative economically impracticable.Ephraim proposed the immediate cancellation of the Green Scheme.The Council unanimously approved Ephraim’s proposal.Motivating his proposal, Ephraim told the Council that the two-hectare plots allocated to farmers were not big enough to be economically viable.He added that a big chunk of the farmers’ earnings was pocketed by service providers, leaving the farmers with negligible profits.The service providers were enlisted by Government to technically assist the small farmers with crop production and to find European markets for them.Ephraim informed the Council that his request stemmed from talks between him and the Agriculture Ministry’s Permanent Secretary.According to Ephraim, the PS was just waiting for a Council resolution to scrap the Green Scheme project as non-viable.At the meeting Ephraim also claimed that the much-talked-about biodiesel project, a joint venture with an Israeli company, Argos Namibia, was struggling to get off the ground because some Government officials in the Lands Ministry had tampered with the project proposal.However, he said he was optimistic that the project would soon become a reality.